He also is scheduled to meet with several other ministers, business leaders and artists during his stay, but has no appointments with Cuban dissidents, according to his official schedule.

Cuba and Germany have remained trade partners despite strained political relations, with bilateral trade totaling US$425 million in 2013, according to the latest available data.

Germany sent 124,000 visitors to Cuba in 2014 -- fewer only than Canada and Britain.

The only other post-reunification visit to Cuba by a German minister came in 2001, when the then economy minister Werner Muller visited, according to German news agency DPA.

The European Union suspended relations with Cuba in 2003 over a crackdown on journalists and activists, but it began talks to restore them in April last year, aiming to persuade Havana to improve its rights record. — AFP